The invention relates to a navigation system for a land vehicle having a measuring arrangement for supplying position, direction and/or distance data, having a data source arrangement for supplying navigation data, having an input arrangement at least for inputting a destination, having a control arrangement at least for determining a route, and having at least one display apparatus for outputting navigation instructions.
The navigation system CARiN 520 is known from the leaflet xe2x80x9cCARiN NAVIGATION SYSTEMxe2x80x9d from Philips Car Systems, 1997. A CD-ROM supplies digitally coded navigation instructions to a control arrangement, for example one designed with a microprocessor. The position data from a GPS system (GPS=Global Positioning System) and the direction data from a gyrocompass are used by the navigation system to ascertain position information about the location of the vehicle. Once a destination has been input, the navigation system calculates the position of the vehicle and the route to be taken and then takes a driver to this destination by means of audio and visual outputs. Such a system enables the driver to head for a destination which he does not know, without knowledge of the place and without reading maps.
It is an object of the invention to provide a navigation system which makes it possible to free the driver from other actions diverting his attention from the traffic.
The object is achieved by a navigation system of the type mentioned in the introduction in that the control arrangement is provided for determining a direction from the calculated position of the land vehicle and a stored position for a prescribed location, and the display apparatus is provided for additionally displaying the direction ascertained by the control arrangement.
According to the invention, the navigation system determines the direction of a prescribed place, and this direction is displayed on the display apparatus. In this context, the control arrangement ascertains the position of the vehicle, takes the position of the prescribed place from a database, for example, and uses the data to calculate the direction of the place. The control arrangement could, by way of example, calculate the direction of the city of Mecca, and the display apparatus could display the direction of the city of Mecca in the form of an arrow and explanatory further information. The explanatory further information could be the legend xe2x80x9cMeccaxe2x80x9d or a pictorial representation, for example a stylized mosque.
In addition, the navigation system can also output messages at particular times. By way of example, sunset during the fasting month of Ramadan could be calculated and output. Furthermore, the navigation system could also perform a prescribed action at particular times, such as playing a piece of music.